1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the fabrication of semiconductor photoelectronic devices, and in particular to a method of fabricating a modified planar semiconductor structure permitting the integration of optoelectronic devices with photoelectronic devices on the same substrate. One application for such integrated devices includes the direct interfacing to an optical fiber for information transmission and detection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of integrated optoelectronic circuits including an array of photodetector devices on one surface of a semiconductor body, and electronic access devices associated therewith on the same semiconductor body and methods of fabricating such structures are known in the prior art. Such circuits are typically implemented with the devices on one side of the array, and the access circuits on the other side. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,849,678 and 4,547,792 disclose a photodetector array implemented on one side of a semiconductor wafer and an array of MOSFET switches on the other side of the wafer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,142,207 and 4,143,269 disclose an imaging system including a MOS field effect transistor switching matrix and a ferroelectric detector matrix located on opposite sides of a heat sink. Other U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,593,067 and 3,101,049 and 3,604,987 and 3,6l7,823and 3,689,900 and 3,735,137 and 3,792,258 disclose various semiconductor devices in which active circuit elements are implemented on both sides of the semiconductor body.
Such detector configurations and imaging systems of the prior art use conventional planar semiconductor fabrication techniques and are directed to applications which are not associated with optical fiber transmission. Prior to the present invention, there has not been a method of fabricating an integrated circuit which permits the integration of low-noise high sensitivity detectors with high power amplifiers on the same semiconductor chip while allowing the performance of each element of the circuit to be optimized independently.